Abstract/Summary

Reaching back into the nineteenth century, the study of earthworms has a long and
interesting history in Ireland. The early developments were largely through the work
of the naturalist Reverend Hilderic Friend (1852–1940). Born in Kent, England, he
made numerous trips to Ireland. As a contemporary of Praeger and Southern, both famous
naturalists, he has contributed invaluably to the natural history of the island. A group of
earthworm researchers decided to follow in the footsteps of the Rev. H. Friend, by re-visiting his
source of specimens and tracing the story of the aptly-named earthworm Lumbricus friendi.